New Member - New 29er - New Problems!!

DopePeddler

Hi All,

Just joined and would appreciate some advice....

I purchased a brand new Boardman Comp 29er nearly 2 months ago and have been really enjoying it, on and off road.

Since buying, I have clocked up over 500 miles and noticed the some of the gears were slipping a bit and the chain had been thrown off a few times. I mentioned this when it went back for its 6 week check up and when I collected it was advised the rear cassette was faulty and had now been replaced with a new one.

Great, I thought... However on riding, the problem was still apparent, only now worse - with gears still slipping and now a 'graunching' sound in top gear, which sounded like it was causing damage and meaning that the top 2 gears were unusable.

Took the bike back again and now advised that the crank is bent/twisted [?] and needs to be replaced.

I don't know how common these types of fault are but am wondering if I should have spent more to get a higher spec.? this is, after all, a c.£700 bike and I would have thought at that would be pretty durable.

What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance.

supersonic

Sounds very unlikely that these things have happened. All bikes need the gears maintaining and adjusting, try that first. Does the crank look bent?

DopePeddler

supersonic wrote:

Sounds very unlikely that these things have happened. All bikes need the gears maintaining and adjusting, try that first. Does the crank look bent?

The bike is back with Halfords right now.

The guy there diagnosed the crank problem on the basis that when he turned the pedals, with the rear wheel raised, there was a 'side to side' movement of the chain, meaning it wasn't turning true.

supersonic

Hmmm. You should be able to see the chainrings are bent when moving the cranks back.

DopePeddler

supersonic wrote:

Hmmm. You should be able to see the chainrings are bent when moving the cranks back.

Presumably that would cause the lateral motion - so his diagnosis sounds correct you think?

supersonic

Possibly, but an odd way to diagnose it.

Dave_P1

If there willing to change all the bits for free then your laughing.
Chances are the gears just need adjusting. If the chain is slipping under pressure when it returns then the chain is too worn for the new cassette, but after only 500 miles I doubt that, but it does depend on many factors.

DopePeddler

Dave_P1 wrote:

If there willing to change all the bits for free then your laughing.
Chances are the gears just need adjusting. If the chain is slipping under pressure when it returns then the chain is too worn for the new cassette, but after only 500 miles I doubt that, but it does depend on many factors.

Thanks for the response.

No charge was made for the cassette and I fully expect the same for anything else at this stage.

My concern is that to have 2 such problems, so soon, didn't seem right to me and I don't really want to be taking it back every 6 weeks. As mentioned in the title, I'm new to this, so my expectations may be all wrong - hence this thread.

Regarding adjusting the gears, I have no idea how to do that, but have been planning to look into it since I first experienced the slipping - just being lazy knowing I could get them to check for me at the free inspection stage!

supersonic

Yep, you need to know how to adjust, safety check, maintain and sort out your bike. The warranty/your rights will cover parts that have manufacturing errors, but not if misused or not looked after.

Assuming the chainset has developed a fault then they should replace it, but parts just don't bend, which is why I don't think that is the problem.

cooldad

Have a good read through Parktools - how to do just about everything, and nice clear simple explanations.
Link in Read this first below.

DopePeddler

UPDATE:

Picked the bike up last week, no charge for new chainring, although manager queried why it had been done under warranty. Whilst collecting, I noticed that there was quite a lot of paint damage to the chain stay, which they offered to 'touch in'. I told them I wasnt happy and the manager agreed to look into it further (the technician I'd been dealing with wasn't in that day).

Anyway, got home and the exact same faults were still present - second highest gear slipping badly and top gear 'graunching'!

Spoke to manager and to their credit they agreed to refund for the bike, which they have now done. I know a lot of people criticise Halfords, but to their credit, I think they they handled this well - I was expecting a bit of a 'battle'!

Anyway, picked up a new Specialized yesterday and fingers crossed, no problems with this one!

supersonic

Given that Specialized make Boardman bikes, I hope not ;-)

DopePeddler

Punctured both tyres on first outing! Repaired now, hopefully just unlucky... Never had any with the Contis on the B'man... Grrrrrrr!

Giraffoto

Good luck with the new bike! To ensure you have better luck, locate the gear cable adjuster barrels - they're most likely to be knurled knobs through which the gear cable passes on its way into the shift levers. If you experience the same gear slipping problem after a few hundred miles, give them a turn or so to see if you can cure it yourself.